12:38 AM

NEWARK, N.J. -- For all the resilience that challenger Dan Hardy showed, Georges St. Pierre displayed more than enough skill to match it.

St. Pierre (20-2) retained the Ultimate Fighting Championship's welterweight belt and cruised to his seventh straight victory with a dominant unanimous decision over Hardy in the main event of UFC 111 early Sunday morning. The judging reflected the completely one-sided nature of the affair, with scores of 50-43, 50-44 and 50-45.

The champion got takedowns, side mount and back control virtually at will every round. Hardy generated little offense and spent most of the bout on his back or giving it up while turning in attempts to regain his feet. The challenger exhibited his toughness by riding out two painful looking arm submissions.

For all his mastery on the mat, St. Pierre was not impressed with his performance. The champion had an armbar in the first round and a kimura in the fourth, but Hardy would not submit. Although St. Pierre praised the challenger's toughness, he also faulted his own technique and blamed himself for trying to use brute force, particularly with the kimura.

"I wanted to have a finish and have a clean win," he said. "For me, like this, it's not clean. ... I didn't have the right angle and the right position with (the kimura). Hardy was able to walk and follow the angle and follow the way where I was pushing the arm. His hips were not stabilized on the ground, so he was able to move and follow the way I was going for the arm."

The challenger found little to criticize about St. Pierre's skill and strength. "I can see now why he's the champion," Hardy said.

Hardy (23-7, one no-contest) suffered his first UFC loss and saw his winning streak end at seven.

St. Pierre over the last four years has fashioned himself into the premier wrestler among welterweight mixed martial artists. With the exception of two fights with Matt Hughes -- arguably the best MMA wrestler to ever compete at 170 pounds -- the champion's winning streak has been marked by a ground-and-pound dominance.

This time St. Pierre looked for submissions, but his inability to finish drew the ire of viewers, UFC President Dana White said.

"The fans were not happy with tonight's fight," he said. "My Twitter was blowing up with a lot of stuff about the main event."

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